A story about a jet fighter moment 15. SFW - fun, humor, girls, accidents, cars, celebrity photos and much more. The main modifications of the aircraft

The design idea of ​​Mikoyan and Gurevich created one of the best aircraft in the world, mass-produced this fighter opened a wide road for Soviet aircraft construction in the jet era. Possessing excellent vertical maneuverability and powerful armament, the MiG-15 received a baptism of fire in Korea and rightfully became the best fighter of that time.

History of creation

In 1946, after an invitation to the Kremlin, a group of OKB-155 designers got acquainted with the requirements for the construction of a machine with a jet engine that could reach transonic speed. A.I. Mikoyan and M.I. Gurevich understood that the creation of such an aircraft was possible if all the achievements of previous years in the aerodynamics of the swept wing were used.

In parallel with such work, they developed the design of an ejection seat and an engine for a jet aircraft. We didn’t have our own engine yet, we had to go to England for experience and Rolls-Royce Nene and Derwent engines. Having bought ten British engines in 1946 and 15 in 1947, Soviet engineers studied and took drawings of the engines. Soon, having received the designation RD-45, the converted English engine was put into series.

In OKB-155, meanwhile, the version of a simple fuselage with two air channels from the nose of the hull to the engine located in the tail of the aircraft was finally adopted. The factory designation of this machine was I-310 and three prototypes were built in 1947, one of them was equipped with a high-reliability RD-45F engine.

According to the old tradition, in the last days of the outgoing 1947, the pilot of OKB-155 V.N. Yuganov tested a pre-production jet fighter in the air. A year passed and on December 30, 1948, the first production car under the control of the same V.N. Yuganova broke away from the concrete strip of the factory airfield and performed an installation flight.

Every day the quality of manufactured aircraft grew, the product was subjected to constant improvement during manufacture. Designer V.Ya. Klimov prepared a modernized VK-1 engine, which was equipped with the most massive new modification, which received the index. Before the direct release to the series, the armament of the vehicle was replaced - two new NR-23 and one H-37 guns were installed. After coordination with the Ministry of Defense, the design bureau developed a draft of a new training aircraft MiG-15UTI and already in January 1949, the new machine was tested in flight. On this "spark" more than one generation of pilots received a ticket to the sky.

Aircraft design

The aerodynamic design of the new aircraft was a monoplane with a mid-range swept wing and rear cruciform tail. The oblique beam of the wing and its spar formed a niche in the form of a triangle, into which the landing gear was retracted.

The wing was equipped with mechanization from ailerons with trimmers and flaps-shields, which are produced at a certain angle in landing and take-off modes. On the cruciform tail, the stabilizer divided the rudder into upper and lower sections.

The power plant of the fighter consisted of the RD-25F engine, on later modifications, starting with, they installed a more powerful VK-1, the air flow was directed from the air intake in the bow through two channels that went around the cockpit compartment to the engine located in the tail of the aircraft.

Tricycle landing gear, retractable in flight, had lever-type shock absorbers. The nose strut is self-orienting, the braking system was air. The chassis was retracted and extended hydraulically. There were no cables in the control system, it was rigid based on rods and rocking chairs. On the latest modification of the machine, hydraulic boosters were introduced into the control system.

The armament was represented by three guns in the bow under the air intake - one H-37 and two HP-23. The guns were placed on a retractable carriage and, with the help of a special winch, were reloaded within 20 minutes. Additionally, it was possible to hang two bombs of one hundred kilograms under the wing.

The cockpit of the fighter is airtight with forced ventilation, equipped with an ejection seat. The glazing of the cockpit lantern opened up a good view, which is very important for air combat. Flight instruments are concentrated on the cockpit dashboard - AGI-1 attitude indicator, speed indicator, altimeter, glide indicator and variometer, navigation devices - remote gyromagnetic compass, approach system, radio compass and radio altimeter.

For communication with the ground and between aircraft, the RSIU-3 radio station was intended, the aircraft was equipped with state recognition equipment SRO-1. On the left panel inside the cockpit was the engine control lever, on the right panel were concentrated switches for radio equipment and aircraft systems. In the middle was a control stick with a brake lever and gun triggers. The pilot sat comfortably in the ejection seat.

Flight performance

• Crew -1 people
• Maximum ground speed - 1042 km / h
• Maximum speed at an altitude of 5000 m - 1021 km / h, at an altitude of 10000 m - 974 km / h
• Breakaway speed - 230 km/h
• Landing speed - 174 km / h
• Range - 1335 km, with PTB - 1920 km
• Practical ceiling - 15100 m
• Rate of climb near the ground - 41 m / s
• Time to climb 10 thousand meters - 6.8 minutes
• Takeoff distance - 605 m
• Landing distance - 755 m
• Wingspan - 10.08 m
• Aircraft length - 10.10 m
• Aircraft height - 3.7 m
• Empty weight - 3247 kg
• Normal takeoff weight - 4917 kg
• The amount of fuel - 1210 kg
• Engine - TRD RD-45F
• Thrust - 2270 kgf
• Armament - one H-37 gun and two HP-23
• Suspension points - 2

Features of air warfare in Korea

The Korean events deserve attention in that they were the scene of a combat clash of jet aircraft that opened a new era in the history of aviation. Ours carried out air support for parts of the Chinese army. For the American air force, the appearance was unexpected, their F-80 with a straight wing had a lower speed and turned into easy prey for our aircraft. The United States urgently transferred the latest to Korea F-86 "Saber", which opposed Soviet aircraft in the air war. Our pilots did not have the right to fight and pursue the enemy over the territory of South Korea and the sea. But the Soviet pilots did not have the goal of destroying F-86, the main task was not to miss the next bomber raid B-29.

At that time, we did not have anti-g suits, and US pilots had such, and this reduced our ability to conduct maneuverable air combat. Veterans of the Korean War recalled that "Saber" possessed superiority at low altitudes, this was especially expressed in turns, and Moment had excellent rate of climb and often the battle ended after the first run. Having unsuccessfully attacked, the Saber went down, and Moment trying to gain height. After that, each pilot used the best qualities of his aircraft and, as a result, our Moment was at the top, and the American was at the bottom.

The outcome of the battle was often influenced by the presence of "Sabra" radio range finder, with it our planes were shot down from a long distance, about 2.5 km. This sad situation for Soviet pilots lasted until 1952, until the appropriate equipment was installed on our aircraft.

Excellent performance in intercepting bombers B-29, in the spring of 1951, on the Korean-Chinese border, Soviet pilots defeated a large grouping of these aircraft, and in October of the same year, the Americans suffered heavy losses during raids on North Korea and until the end of the war they no longer used bombers during the day. During the Korean events, 23 air duels were won by the Soviet pilot Yevgeny Popelyaev, it was he who forced the American pilot to make an emergency landing. F-86, which was subsequently transferred to Moscow to the Central Aerodynamic Institute.

A huge sensation in the Western press was caused by the appearance of ours in Korea - this was called the "Korean surprise" and subsequently the American pilots called this theater of operations the "MiG alley"

Video: MiG-15 fighter

In total, 15,560 vehicles were built in the Soviet Union and countries that produced the MiG-15 under license. It is the most massive military combat aircraft in the history of aviation. Over the years, he was in service with about 40 countries.

Mig 15 is a wonderful Russian fighter, light, simple and not expensive to manufacture. Its rival is the American Saber F-86, which is technically complex, heavy and expensive. In 1950, the Korean War broke out, during the course of 3 years of air combat, jet fighters first met and fought each other. In June 1950, North Korean troops invaded South Korea, fearing the spread of communism, the Americans assisted the South Korean government.

During the hostilities that unfolded on the ground, the Americans managed to push the enemy back beyond the 38th parallel, the war on land was extremely fierce, but by the end of the year even more difficult battles would unfold in the air. The Americans first met the MiG15 in the sky in November 1950. The use of this aircraft by Chinese and Korean troops came as a complete surprise to everyone. According to the plan of the Russian command, the main task of the moments was to shoot down American fighters and bombers, which ensured the operation of the ground forces of South Korea. The moment was almost unknown to Western military experts, and then they became convinced of its crushing power. Mig15 for the first time of hostilities was much faster and stronger than the previously used American F51 Mustang. The MiG 15 was the fastest aircraft in the Korean skies, and the North Korean military pilots were very proud of this beautiful combat vehicle.

The Russians started developing the Mig15 in 1947. A year later, the car was ready to take to the skies, a team of designers headed by Mikoyan and Gurevich created a first-class fighter of that time. Speed ​​is the main advantage over American aircraft. He flew twice as fast as the piston aircraft of the enemy. The first Mig15 was equipped with an English engine, the British handed over the drawings of the engine when they were allies during the war against Nazi Germany. In 1950, Russian military designers improved the design of the English engine, created a new and more powerful VK1 engine. Six months after the start of the war, the small and unpretentious MiG15 developed a speed of 1045 kilometers per hour, and was ready to gain dominance in the Korean sky. Mig15 seemed invincible, the simplicity of the design made it possible to remain in the sky, despite the numerous damage from enemy fire.

As soon as the Americans got acquainted with the MiG15 that appeared in the sky over Korea, they hastily threw the Saber F-86 into battle, this machine was intended to patrol US airspace. And during the tests, American pilots considered him an excellent fighter. The speed of the MiG15 and Saber F-86 was approximately the same; both of them exceeded more than 1000 kilometers per hour. And thanks to this, the Russians and Americans took advantage of a new invention, the swept wing. Jet models of early jet aircraft were used with a straight wing, but at high speeds a straight wing would create forward pressure leading to additional loads, to avoid this the designers positioned the wings at a 35 degree angle. That allowed to reduce overloads. In 1950, the MiG15 and Saber F-86 were the fastest aircraft in the world. The Saber F-86 had a major difference than the Mig15, the Saber F-86 was heavy and powerful, while the Mig15 was small and light. The light weight allowed it to gain speed faster and it also had another advantage, climbing faster than the Saber F-86. Mig15 could climb up to 18 kilometers, which provided a significant tactical advantage, which allowed you to choose the moment of attack or escape.

The massive and heavy Saber F-86 could not reach such heights and attack speeds, for the Saber F-86 there was a climb ceiling of 13 kilometers, and if it climbed to a high altitude, then it could not maneuver at high altitude at all. Therefore, American planes usually patrolled and tried to lure the enemy to a height of 8-10 kilometers. But all the same, the initiative to conduct the battle belonged to Mig15, so he could choose his own time and angle of attack. But for a real test of the car, it was an oncoming battle. Attacking on a collision course, MiG15 and Saber F-86 fought almost on an equal footing. Achieving success, the pilots had to squeeze everything they could out of their cars. Firepower was on the side of Mig15. Armed with three cannons and firing high-explosive shells, he was a serious opponent. And after hitting the Saber F-86 fell apart. There were cases when the Saber F-86 fired the entire ammunition load at the Mig15, and he continued to stay in the air and conduct air combat.

During the entire period of the war, two types of aircraft constantly met in air battles, each with its own advantages. The MiG15 had more powerful armament, climb and speed, while the Saber F-86 had better maneuverability. But the outcome of the battle still came from the skill of the pilot.

The Korean conflict had been going on for almost six months by the morning of November 30, 1950, when an American Air Force B-29 Superfortress bomber raiding an air base in North Korea was slightly damaged by a fighter that was moving too fast, and therefore it could not be identified, and the bomber's gunner did not have time to fix it at all using the guidance system of his machine gun. Lockheed F-80 rectangular wing jet fighters escorting the bomber launched a symbolic pursuit, but as they accelerated, the unidentified fighter quickly became a dot and then disappeared altogether.

The report of the bomber crew caused an organized panic in the American chain of command. Although the pilots' description of the invading aircraft did not match any of the examples used in that theater of operations, US intelligence officials quickly made an educated guess. They said that it was a MiG-15 fighter, most likely taken off from an air base in Manchuria. Prior to this incident, analysts believed that Stalin only gave permission for the MiGs to be used to defend Shanghai against Chinese Nationalist bomber raids. This MiG was a grim omen: Chinese involvement in Korea was growing, and Soviet technology was spreading.

For the crews in the cockpits of the hulking Super Fortresses, this aircraft, rapidly cutting through their formations, became a source of suffocating fear. “In my opinion, everyone was scared,” says former B-29 pilot Earl McGill, describing a noticeable lack of radio communication during the flight of his four-engine Boeing aircraft - these were the machines that ended World War II - shortly before the attack on Namsi Air Base, located near the border between North Korea and China. “In the course of preparation for the first task, we were provided with information about the interception that took place. I was more terrified that day than ever before in my life, even when I was flying B-52s (in Vietnam).” There used to be a lot of dark humor in the conversations in the pilots' quarters. “The guy who did the briefing on the upcoming route looked like a funeral director,” adds McGill. He conducted this briefing in a special top hat worn by undertakers.

On one catastrophic day in October 1951 - it was nicknamed "Black Tuesday" - MiGs shot down six out of ten "Superfortresses". McGill's first encounter with these aircraft was typically brief. “One of the shooters saw him. Only a small silhouette was visible,” McGill recalls. - That's when I saw him ... - the arrows opened fire on him. The centralized firing system on the bomber provided some protection against fighters, McGill emphasizes.

The pilot of the MiG-15 aircraft, Porfiry Ovsyannikov, was then the target on which the arrows of the B-29 bomber fired. “When they started shooting at us, the smoke was coming, and now think, either the bomber was set on fire, or the smoke from the machine guns?” He recalled in 2007, when historians Oleg Korytov and Konstantin Chirkin interviewed him to create an oral stories of combat pilots who took part in the Second World War, as well as in the Korean War (These interviews are posted on the lend-lease.airforce.ru/english website). Russian historians asked Ovsyannikov to evaluate the small arms of the B-29 aircraft. His answer: "Very good." However, MiG pilots could open fire from a distance of about 700 meters, and from such a distance, as McGill emphasizes, they were able to attack a group of B-29 bombers.

“The MiG-15s came as a big surprise to us,” said National Air and Space Museum curator Robert van der Linden. Compared to the North American A-86 Saber, which was urgently put into service after the appearance of the MiG-15, we can say that "MiGs were faster, they had better rate of climb and more firepower," he notes. And the pilots who flew the Saber fighters knew it.

“You are absolutely right, it was humiliating,” says retired Air Force Lieutenant General Charles “Chick” Cleveland, recalling his first encounter with the MiG-15 fighter. He flew a Saber in Korea in 1952 with the 334th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. A few weeks earlier, the squadron commander, famed World War II ace George Andrew Davis, had died in combat with a Soviet fighter. (Davis was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.) At that moment, Cleveland, having laid a sharp turn to get away from the MiG, exceeded the parameters for stalling the Sabers and briefly went into a tailspin - according to him, all this happened "in the midst of an air battle." Cleveland, despite his mistake, was able to stay alive and then became the ace of the Korean War, having 5 confirmed downed MiGs, as well as two unconfirmed ones. Today he is the president of the American Fighter Aces Association and he still respects his opponent, whom he had to fight 60 years ago. “Oh, it was a beautiful aircraft,” he says by phone from his home in Alabama, “It should be remembered that in Korea this small MiG-15 was able to successfully do what all these Focke-Wulfs and "Messerschmites" during the Second World War - he squeezed the bomber aircraft of the United States of America out of the airspace. From November 1951, B-29s remained on the ground during daylight hours, and combat missions were only flown at night.

Inevitably, the history of the MiG-15 returns to duels with the Sabers, and this rivalry determined the outcome of the air war in Korea. However, the connection between MiGs and Sabers began during the previous war. Both of them drew inspiration from a concept that arose from a desperate search for weapons at the end of World War II, when the Allied air forces were outnumbered by the German air force. In a desperate situation, the Luftwaffe High Command held a competition. The winner of the "Extraordinary Fighter Competition" was the aircraft presented by the head of the design bureau of the Focke-Fulff company Kurt Tank (Kurt Tank) and received the designation TA-183; it was a single-engine jet fighter model with a high T-tail. In 1945, British troops entered the Focke-Fulf factory at Bad Eilsen and confiscated blueprints, models, and wind tunnel data, all of which they promptly shared with the Americans. And when Berlin fell, the Soviet troops went to the German Air Ministry and found a complete set of drawings for the TA-183 aircraft, as well as invaluable data on wing tests. Less than two years later, and only a few weeks apart, the United States of America and the Soviet Union introduced a single-engine 35-degree winged jet with a short fuselage and T-tail. The two planes looked so much alike in Korea that the American pilots, eager to chalk up a MiG, shot down several Sabers by mistake.

None of these fighters was a copy of the Tank model. Primitive aeronautical research, as well as the limited availability of engines and the materials used at the time, inevitably led to the similarity of the models being developed. The MiG-9 was the first jet aircraft developed by the Mikoyan and Gurevich (MiG) design bureau located in Moscow. The primitive MiG-9 engine - a twin BWM engine captured in Germany - was not enough for the expected performance of the MiG-15, but Moscow had little experience in creating superior models. Instead, the MiG-15 was originally equipped with the Rolls-Royce Nene engine - excellent in its innovativeness and thoughtlessly delivered to the USSR by the British.

Wanting to bring a thaw to Anglo-Soviet relations, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee invited Soviet scientists and engineers to the Rolls-Royce plant to study how British engines of superior quality were made. In addition, Atlee offered license production to the USSR, and this was done in response to a solemn promise to use these engines only for non-military purposes. This proposal startled the Americans, who protested loudly. And what about the Soviets? Ukrainian-born Soviet aviation historian Ilya Grinberg believes that “Stalin himself could not believe it. He said: “Who in their right mind would sell us such things?” Greenberg, professor of technology at the State University of New York at Buffalo, emphasizes that the presence of Artem Mikoyan himself in the delegation is “Mi” from the name “MiG "- was supposed to serve as a warning about the consequences of the proposed deal: Rolls-Royce engines delivered to the USSR in 1946 were urgently installed on MiG-15 aircraft and successfully passed flight tests. By the time this fighter was ready for mass production, all the engineering problems associated with the technology of the Rolls-Royce Nene engine had been solved, and as a result, its copy appeared under the designation Klimov RD-45. The British, according to Greenberg, complained about the violation of the license agreement, but "the Russians just told them: look, we made some changes, and now this can be considered our own development."

But, as in the case of copying cars from Western Europe in the post-war Soviets, the engines produced in the USSR were inferior in quality to the originals. The period from the beginning of the use of Klimov engines to their failure was measured in hours. “Based on the state of the Soviet aircraft industry at the time, it could be assumed that quality control at MiG enterprises was inferior to the level that existed in the West,” Grinberg notes. Materials for high-pressure parts were not up to standard. Permissions were insufficient. In fact, some of the problems on the MiG aircraft were related to the wings, which did not fully meet the requirements. Greenberg describes an archival photograph of the production line for installing engines for the first generation of MiG-15 fighters. “What can be said here? he remarks hesitantly. “These are not people in white overalls in high-tech production at all.”

However, by this time, another Soviet design bureau, headed by Andrei Tupolev, copied to the last rivet two Boeing B-29 aircraft that made an emergency landing on Soviet territory during World War II. Greenberg argues that the accuracy achieved in production under the Tupolev project was transferred to work under the MiG program. In fact, "the project to copy the B-29 pulled forward not only the Soviet aviation industry," he emphasizes. Although the MiGs continued to be inexpensive to build and unnecessarily spartan, the final version of this aircraft, which flew in 1947, proved to be durable and reliable.

The first wave of F-86 fighter pilots from the 4th Wing included World War II veterans. Obviously, they had to confront inexperienced Chinese pilots at the controls of the MiG-15, trained by Russian specialists. However, it soon became clear that North Korean MiGs were not being flown by recent graduates of flight schools. Saber fighter pilots called the mysterious MiG-15 pilots "honchos", which means "bosses" in Japanese. We now know that most North Korean MiGs were powered by battle-hardened Soviet air force pilots.

Chick Cleveland describes encounters with MiG pilots whose skills went beyond classroom training. Cleveland was approaching the Amnokkan River at an altitude of about 12,000 meters when a MiG flying at high speed appeared ahead of him. The speed of both planes was approaching Mach number when they flew next to each other. "I said to myself: This is no longer teaching, now everything is real." Using the superiority of the Sabers in speed and turning radius, he used acceleration and ended up in the tail of the MiG. "I got really close to him and it looked like he was sitting next to me in the living room."

Remembering in that moment the stories of World War II pilots who forgot to press the trigger in the midst of air combat, Cleveland looked down for a moment to check the position of the toggle switches on his Saber. “When I looked up again, this MiG was no longer in front of me.” Cleveland looked forward, backward "and around him along the entire horizon" - nothing. There was only one chilling possibility left. “I swiveled my F-86 slightly and of course it was right under me.” It was a deft attempt to switch roles, performed by the MiG pilot, who sharply limited the supply of fuel and, slowing down, found himself below and then behind the enemy, graying on his tail. “I gradually became a fox, and he turned into a dog,” Cleveland says with a laugh. However, after several maneuvers, the Saber regained its position and again found itself on the tail of the Russian pilot, who was forced to resort to "classic MiG tactics" - he began to climb sharply. Cleveland fired several rounds at the engine and fuselage of the MiG, after which it slowly shifted to the left, dived down and went towards the ground. Given the characteristics of the MiG, diving at high speed was indicative of a crash, not an escape strategy.

Due to the fact that the MiGs questioned the superiority of the United States in the air, the Americans tried by all means to get their hands on Soviet technology, but they managed to get the MiG-15 capable of flying only in September 1953, when the North Korean defector pilot No Geum Sok (No Kum-Sok) landed his fighter jet at Kimpo Air Base in South Korea. Flights on the Korean MiG were supposed to clearly demonstrate what kind of machines the American pilots had to deal with. To evaluate the Soviet fighter, the best pilots of the United States Air Force - Captain Harold Collins (Harold "Tom" Collins), from the test division of the Field Wright airbase (Field Wright) and Major Charles Yeager (Charles "Chuck" Yeagger) were sent to Kadena airbase (Kadena) in Japan. On September 29, 1953, the first Western pilot took to the air in a mysterious MiG. This flight confirmed the expected excellent qualities, but also revealed the less pleasant characteristics of the MiG-15 aircraft. “A defector pilot told me that the MiG-15 tends to stall when accelerating at even one G, and also breaks into a tailspin, from which it often cannot get out,” Collins noted in 1991, giving an interview for a collection of memoirs "Test Flights at Old Wright Field". “A white stripe was drawn on the front panel, which was used to center the steering knob when trying to get out of a spin. He said that before his eyes, his instructor went into a tailspin and then died.

Test flights showed that the speed of the MiG-15 did not exceed Mach 0.92. In addition, the aircraft control system was ineffective when diving down and performing sharp maneuvers. During dogfights in Korea, American pilots watched as MiG-15 fighters approached the limits of their capabilities, after which they suddenly fell into a tailspin at high speed and collapsed, often losing wings or tails.

Soviet pilots also knew the characteristics of the Sabers as well as American pilots knew the capabilities of the MiGs. “You won’t make me attack them at maximum turning speed,” stressed Soviet MiG-15 pilot Vladimir Zabelin in one of his oral presentations, translated in 2007. “In that case, he could easily be on my tail. When I myself went behind them, they knew that they could only get away from me as a result of horizontal maneuvers ... Usually I attacked them from behind and a little lower ... When he began the maneuver, I tried to intercept him. If I didn't knock him down during the first third of the turn, I had to stop attacking and go away."

The Finnish Air Force purchased MiG-21 aircraft from the Soviet Union in 1962, and also received four MiG-15 trainers so that their pilots could become familiar with the exotic characteristics of the MiG cockpit. Retired test pilot Colonel Jyrki Laukkanen concluded that the MiG-15 was a well-controlled and maneuverable aircraft “provided you knew its limitations and did not go beyond safe piloting. Essentially, you had to keep your speed under Mach 0.9 and under 126 knots (186 kilometers per hour); otherwise, controllability began to be lost. Landing could be difficult due to manually inflated air brakes, which quickly lost their effectiveness. "If they were warming up, then you were left with no other options for steering or braking other than turning off the engine and watching where you ended up - it usually ended up on the grass."

Laukkanen believes that there were certain oddities in the cockpit of the MiG-15. "The artificial horizon at the MiG-15 was unusual." The upper part of this device, representing the sky, was brown, while the lower part, as a rule, denoted the earth and was blue. This device was made in such a way that when lifting, the symbol of the aircraft fell down. “It worked as if it had been assembled upside down,” Laukkanen marvels. "But it wasn't like that." The fuel gauge on the MiG-15 was also, in his opinion, "particularly unreliable", which is why Finnish pilots learned to read fuel amounts with their watches. As Chief Test Pilot, Laukkanen has logged over 1,200 hours of flight time in a delta wing MiG-21 aircraft. (He was also the only Finn to fly solo in a P-51 Mustang.) “In my opinion, the MiG-15 had no particular mystique,” ​​he says. - My favorite aircraft, which, unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to fly, was the F-86 Saber.

A more objective indicator of the relative strength of the MiG and Saber fighters is the number of enemy aircraft shot down, but this kind of data on the ratio of losses is difficult to obtain. So, for example, at the end of the Korean War, Chick Cleveland had four downed MiGs, two presumably downed and four damaged MiGs. “And when was the last time he saw a MiG in a deadly high-speed dive down? My wingman and I pursued him during a high-speed descent and an attempt to hide in the clouds at an altitude of about 700 meters. I was sure that he couldn't do it. But we didn't see the plane bail out or hit the ground, and so it was counted as suspect." After careful research by another Saber pilot half a century later, his "probable" MiG was eventually replaced with a confirmed downing by the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records. In 2008, he belatedly became known as an ace.

The Soviet method of confirming the results, according to Porfiry Ovsyannikov, was not particularly accurate. “We made attacks, returned home, landed, and I made a report,” he said. - We participated in an air battle! I attacked the B-29. And it's all. In addition, the enemy spoke openly about this and reported data on the radio: “In such and such a place, our bombers were attacked by MiG fighters. As a result, one of our planes fell into the sea. The second one was damaged and crashed while landing in Okinawa." Then the film from the camera mounted on the gun was developed and we studied it. It was shown there that I opened fire at close range. As for the other pilots, some did it and some didn't. They believed me, that's all."

Immediately after the end of the war, the superiority of the Sabers was greatly exaggerated. 792 MiGs were reported shot down, while the US Air Force acknowledged the loss of only 58 Sabers. The Soviets, for their part, admitted the loss of about 350 MiGs, but they claimed that they shot down an incredibly large number of F-86-640 aircraft, which accounted for the majority of this type of fighters stationed in Korea. “All I can say is that the Russians are terrible liars,” says Saber pilot Cleveland. “At least in this case.”

In 1970, the United States Air Force conducted a study code-named "Saber Measures Charlie" and the number of air combat casualties involving MiGs was increased to 92 - resulting in a seven-to-one casualty ratio for the F-86. After the collapse of the USSR, the archives of the Soviet air force became available to scientists, and as a result, the loss of Soviet MiG fighters in Korea was set at 315 aircraft.

If we limit the statistics to a certain period, we can draw important conclusions. Writer and retired Air Force Colonel Doug Dildy notes that when Chinese, Korean and newly arrived Soviet pilots fly the MiG-15, the statistics actually show a nine-to-one loss ratio in favor of the Sabers. But if we take the statistics of the battles of 1951, when the Americans were opposed by Soviet pilots who fought against the Luftwaffe during the Great Patriotic War, then the loss ratio is almost completely equalized - 1.4 to 1, that is, only slightly in favor of the Sabers.

Data from the air war in Korea provide support for this interpretation. When the honchos returned to the Soviet Union, the less experienced Soviet pilots who came to replace them could no longer compete on equal terms with the F-86 pilots. The Chinese lost a quarter of the aircraft from the first generation of MiGs in air battles with an upgraded version of the Sabers, which forced Mao Zedong to suspend MiG flights for a month. The Chinese received upgraded MiG-15bis fighters in the summer of 1953, but at that time a ceasefire agreement was already planned. The MiG-15 aircraft were soon replaced by the MiG-17, which received the necessary improvements - mainly due to the cloning of technologies from two captured F-86 Saber fighters.

By the spring of 1953, Soviet pilots remaining in Korea began to avoid collisions with American aircraft. Stalin died at that time, a truce in Panmunjom seemed inevitable, and no one wanted to be the last victim of the war. Ilya Grinberg sums up the opinions of people who have been in the cockpit of this good-quality fighter: “Soviet pilots at the controls of the MiG-15 considered air battles in Korea simply as work to be done. Ultimately, they did not defend their homeland there. They considered the Americans adversaries, not enemies."

While the outstanding aircraft of the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau was making a name for itself in the West, Soviet citizens had almost no idea what the name meant. The F-86 Saber aircraft became a symbol of American air superiority in 1950s pop culture - it was included in movie scripts, appeared on the covers of magazines, and also on stencils of metal boxes for school lunches. However, in those years, the MiG-15 fighter remained a mystery to the Soviet public. "We didn't even know what the name meant, and we didn't find out until much later than you think," says Greenberg. “In any Russian aviation magazine you can see the image of the MiG-15, but the caption will always be this: a modern jet fighter.”

In the mid-1960s, an inexplicable and typical Soviet bureaucracy change of policy took place, and this fighter, deprived of the cover of secrecy, ended up in public parks. “I remember very well when the MiG-15 was exhibited in our district park,” Grinberg says. The plane was not put on a pedestal and was not part of some kind of monument, as is often done now, but it was simply driven into the park and put brake pads under the wheels. “I remember very well how excited I was when I saw this MiG for the first time. We, children, climbed on it, admired its cabin and all its devices.

And ten years earlier, information about the successes of the MiG-15 in Korea gradually began to spread among the pilots of the air forces of the Warsaw Pact countries, as well as some states of Africa and the Middle East. Ultimately, this fighter was used by the air forces of 35 countries.

The history of the creation of the MiG-15 fighter began after Soviet sales representatives in England in 1946 managed to purchase from Rolls-Royce the most advanced turbojet engines of their time Derwent 5 with a thrust of 1590 kg, Nene I with a thrust of 2040 kg and Nene II with a thrust of 2270 kg. In the USSR, these engines were designated RD-500, RD-45 and RD-45F, respectively. After that, it became possible to create a fighter with a flight speed of about 1000 km / h and a ceiling exceeding 13,000 m.

In March 1947, a meeting was held in the Kremlin, at which Stalin set the task for the fighter design bureaus to create a new fighter with the following characteristics: a maximum speed of more than 1000 km / h, a flight duration of at least one hour, a ceiling of 14,000 m. cannon armament caliber from 23 to 45 mm. The next day, the Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 493-192 was issued, which formulated the task of designing a new fighter. In addition to the Mikoyan Design Bureau, similar tasks were issued to the Lavochkin, Yakovlev and Sukhoi Design Bureaus. On April 30, 1947, Air Force Commander-in-Chief Air Marshal K.A. Vershinin approved the tactical and technical requirements for the new front-line fighter, which basically repeated the words of Stalin.

Yakovlev was the first to complete the task. Already in August 1947, the aircraft, which received the designation Yak-23, was ready, and on September 12, its tests were completed. The first to report to Stalin on the completion of the task, Yakovlev could not please the leader with the characteristics of the aircraft. The requirements were not met. The maximum speed did not exceed 940 km / h, and the flight range was 900 km. And yet, the aircraft was launched into mass production. He was in service, both in the USSR and in a number of Warsaw Pact countries.

The Sukhoi Design Bureau did not meet the deadlines allotted by Stalin, and was subsequently disbanded.

Aircraft created by Lavochkin and Mikoyan had approximately equal characteristics, and both were recommended for mass production. But the Lavochkin fighter, which received the serial designation La-15, was withdrawn from service by 1955, the reason for this was the difficulties in production (low manufacturability) and the complaints of combatant pilots about the difficulties in controlling the aircraft during takeoff and landing. The plane was let down by a rather narrow chassis track, which required a lot of attention and high piloting accuracy from the pilot.

Thus, the Mikoyan Design Bureau became the actual leader in the creation of the first mass-produced jet fighter in the USSR.

Naturally, the success of the design team did not appear from scratch. Mikoyan and Gurevich started designing a new aircraft even before the announcement of the competition - in January 1947. The responsibility with which they approached the design of the aircraft is evidenced by the fact that many possible schemes for the new fighter were considered, among them: a fighter with two engines installed in the wing, a fighter with an engine according to a redone scheme, like the MiG-9, and even a two-beam aircraft similar to the English DH.113 Vampire. But they settled on the most optimal scheme, which for decades has become a classic for fighters around the world - a spindle-shaped circular fuselage with a central air intake, a wing with a sweep of about 35 °, a swept tail and a drop-shaped lantern.

The high flight characteristics of the MiG were provided by the Nene jet engine. Although at the same time the design bureau took a risk, since in the USSR the Nene I and Nene II engines were conditionally classified as bombers, and it was proposed to install lighter, albeit less powerful Derwent 5 engines on fighters.

The management of design and engineering work on the creation of the MiG-15 was entrusted to the Deputy Chief Designer A.G. Brunov and engineer A.A. Andreeva. The solution of the problems of swept wing aerodynamics was entrusted to TsAGI specialists A.S. Khristianovich, G.P. Svishchev, Ya.M. Serebrisky, V.V. Struminsky and others. Their great merit is that the car "turned out" right away, and this is an extremely rare case for a new aerodynamic layout.

When creating a high-speed fighter, the question arose of providing the pilot with reliable means of rescue, allowing him, if necessary, to safely leave the aircraft. This difficult task was solved by a small group of engineers consisting of test engineer E.F. Schwarzburg, candidate of technical sciences and master of parachuting V.A. Stasevich, doctors G.L. Komendantov, V.V. Levashov and P.K. Isakov. Sergey Nikolaevich Lyushin headed the rescue group.

Due attention in the design of the aircraft was given to operational manufacturability. The operational connector of the fuselage, dividing it into the nose and tail sections, was designed as an easy-to-detach connection that provides convenient installation and dismantling of the engine. This division of the fuselage was subsequently used on all Mikoyan and Gurevich aircraft, up to and including the MiG-27.

The experience gained in solving problems related to the placement of artillery weapons that the Design Bureau encountered during the testing of the MiG-9 was not in vain. On the MiG-15, the placement of weapons was chosen so rationally that it made it possible not only to minimize the effect of powder gases on engine operation, but also to greatly simplify maintenance. Ease of operation of weapons was achieved due to good approaches to the guns and their units, placed on a special carriage, which was part of the power circuit of the forward fuselage, and, if necessary, could be lowered using the built-in winches. The removal and installation of all guns, including opening and closing the hoods, raising and lowering the carriage, took only 15-20 minutes of work for two people.

1 - photo machine gun S-13; 2 – radio compartment hatch; 3 - visor of the cab lantern; 4 – sliding part of the lantern in the open position; 5 - cable radio antenna; 6 – sections of the rudder; 7 - brake shield; 8 – radio altimeter antenna; 9 – wheel of the main landing gear; 10 – shield of the niche for cleaning the wheel of the main rack; 11 – wheel front landing gear; 12 - guns NR-23; 13 - keel; 14 - whip radio antenna; 15 - radio antenna; 16 – sliding part of the lantern in the closed position; 17 - gun N-37D; 18-aerodynamic ridges; 19-operation hatch of the engine; 20 – rudder trimmer; 21 – stabilizer section; 22 - landing shield; 23 – aileron; 24 - PVD; 25 – taxiing headlight; 26 - ANO; 27 - machine gun A-12.7 (UBK-12.7); 28 - movable part of the lantern; 29 - folding part of the lantern; 30 – trim tab of the elevator; 31 – elevator; 32 - trimmer; 33– operational wing hatches; 34 - PTB with a capacity of 300 liters; 35 – rack of the main chassis; 36 - hydraulic cylinder for cleaning and releasing the chassis; 37 - nose strut

The first copy of the MiG-15 (designation design bureau S-01) was handed over for flight tests on December 19, 1947. Weather conditions did not allow the aircraft to take off for a long time, and only on December 30, on the last day of the deadline set by Stalin, test pilot V. N. Yuganov made the first flight on the new fighter.

Factory tests continued until May 25, 1948. 38 flights were made on the first copy and 13 on the second (C-02). But even before they were completed, by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 790-255 of March 15, 1948, the fighter was put into mass production under the designation MiG-15 with the RD-45 engine (Soviet designation Nene).

After the end of the stage of factory testing, both prototypes were transferred for state tests to the Civil Aviation Research Institute of the Air Force.

During state tests, which took place from May 27 to August 28, 1948, the MiG-15 aircraft received a good rating from pilots and engineers. It was noted that this is the best fighter ever tested in the GK NII VVS. Test pilots pointed out that the MiG-15 piloting technique was not particularly difficult and could be easily mastered by the flight personnel of combat units. Ground handling of the MiG-15 was not difficult for the technical staff, who had experience in operating jet aircraft. As shortcomings that needed to be eliminated, there were noted the absence of brake flaps, the insufficient effectiveness of the ailerons, and a number of others that were supposed to be eliminated even before the aircraft was put into production. In general, the MiG-15 aircraft was tested with a satisfactory rating.

On August 23, 1948, the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 3210-1303 was issued on the adoption of the MiG-15 into service and its launch into mass production at three factories at once. At the same time, the design bureau was required to eliminate the shortcomings of the fighter and submit an improved vehicle for testing by July 1, 1949.

The first serial MiG-15s were handed over for military tests in the 29th GvIAP at the Kubinka air base near Moscow, which took place from May 20 to September 15. Combat pilots highly appreciated the new car. It was noted that: "The MiG-15 aircraft in terms of its flight and combat qualities is one of the best modern jet fighters." The aircraft also received positive feedback from the engineering and technical staff. The report stated: "The ground operation of the MiG-15 aircraft with the RD-45F engine is easier than the operation of the Yak-17 jet aircraft and the La-9 and Yak-9 piston aircraft."

MiG-15 - combat vehicle

However, it was recommended to make some changes to the design of the aircraft. In particular, install an engine start system in the air, install an autonomous engine start system on the ground, refine the fuel system and the emergency escape system, ensuring automatic separation of the pilot from the seat and opening of the parachute during ejection. All this was done in the shortest possible time. After these improvements, the MiG-15 became a full-fledged jet fighter of the Soviet Air Force and the Air Force of friendly countries.

Participation in the Korean War was the main event in the biography of the MiG-15. In fact, from that moment on, the Design Bureau of Mikoyan and Gurevich received a well-deserved worldwide recognition. The same thing happened as with the Polikarpov Design Bureau after the war in Spain.

The first units armed with MiG-15 fighters arrived in Korea at the end of October 1950.

On November 8, 1950, the first battle between jet aircraft took place. The four of the 28th GvIAP fought with the four F-80С fighters. MiGs, taking advantage of superiority in speed and rate of climb, broke away from the F-80 and, having completed a combat turn, attacked the enemy from the direction of the sun. As a result, at least one Shooting Star was shot down. In battle, one MiG was also damaged, but he returned to Mukden, was repaired and later joined the battle again.

The Americans, who always tried to “embellish” historical facts that were unfavorable for themselves, were forced to admit defeat in this battle. Edward Smith described this battle in his book Fighter Tactics and Strategy: “The first dogfight between jet aircraft took place in November, when American F-80 Shooting Stars pursued MiG-15s that had gone into Manchuria, across the Yalu River. After that, the MiGs turned over the Manchurian territory against the sun, crossed the river again at high altitude and shot down the Shooting Star. American pilots ejected. It became clear that the MiGs have greater speed than the F-80, and can surpass them in maneuverability.

On November 9, the first battle of the MiG-15 with US carrier-based aircraft took place: 18 MiGs 139 GvIAP met with fifty F9F-2 Panther and F4U-4 Corsair fighters and A-1 Skyraider attack aircraft. MiGs managed to destroy six aircraft, and one pilot won three victories - the commander of the 1st squadron, Mikhail Grachev, however, Grachev himself was shot down and died in this battle.

The first battles with UN aircraft showed that the MiG-15 is significantly superior to the F-51, F-80 and F9F in almost all respects, with the exception of horizontal maneuverability.

The MiG-15 turned out to be a deadly enemy for the Flying Fortresses B-29, the main strike force of the US Air Force. The US Air Force and Navy, which formed the basis of the United Nations aviation, lost the undivided air supremacy that they had enjoyed almost from the very beginning of the Korean War.

Only the appearance in the air of "sabers" - F-86 saved the UN aviation from complete defeat. In the face of the F-86 MiGs got a worthy opponent. In fact, from that moment on, the outcome of air battles was decided by the training of pilots and the competent control of air combat from the ground.

The participation of Soviet fighters in the Korean conflict can be considered quite successful. They fought with the enemy on an equal footing, and in the period from April 1951 to February 1952, in their area of ​​responsibility, they had air superiority.

According to Soviet data, during the fighting, the pilots of the 64th Corps completed 63,229 sorties. 1683 air battles were carried out during the day and 107 at night. Our pilots shot down 1106 enemy aircraft. Among them: 651 F-86s, 186 F-84s, 121 F-80s, 32 F-51s, 35 Meteors, 3 B-26s, 69 B-29s. Their losses amounted to 120 pilots and 335 aircraft.

Fighters of the United Air Army (PRC and DPRK): conducted 366 air battles, in which they shot down 271 enemy aircraft, including 181 F-86, 27 F-84, 30 F-80, 12 F-51, 7 "meteors". Their losses amounted to 231 aircraft and 126 pilots.

American statistics are very different from ours. According to them, 954 Soviet, Chinese and North Korean aircraft were shot down, including 827 MiG-15s. Official US data give the following casualty figures. Shot down in air battles: 78 F-86s, 18 F-84s, 15 F-80s, 12 F-51s, 17 V-29s.

MAIN AIRCRAFT MODIFICATIONS

I-310- MiG-15 prototype. Raised into the air on December 30, 1947 by test pilot V.N. Yuganov. There was a big loss of thrust on the plane. At the suggestion of engineer Klichmann, the nozzle and fuselage were shortened. At the same time, changes were made to the design of the controls, tail control and wing. As a result, the experimental machine was different from the serial MiGs. In total, three prototypes were built: S-01, S-02 and S-03.

MiG-15, serial- the main type of aircraft, produced in a large series in variants that slightly differed in equipment and weapons, and for several years was the main fighter of the USSR Air Force and a number of countries. On the first series of the aircraft, there were no hydraulic boosters, engine automation and brake flaps had a smaller area. Since 1949, the aircraft began to enter service with combat units. On serial MiG-15s, experiments were carried out on injecting water into the compressor inlet in order to increase engine thrust, experiments on the use of starting accelerators, as well as starting from a mobile catapult. In terms of speed, the aircraft had a speed limit of 0.92 M. In addition to the Soviet Union, mass production of the MiG-15 was established in Czechoslovakia, Poland and China.

MiG-15P- interceptor, with a radar installed in the forward fuselage (above the air intake).

- escort fighter, with the possibility of hanging drop fuel tanks with a capacity of 250 liters. Metal tanks weighing 22 kg or fiber weighing 15 kg. With the use of external tanks, the range of the fighter increased by more than 400 km.

- high-altitude escort fighter, similar to the MiG-15S, but with modified weapons. The NS-23 guns were replaced by HP-23 guns, which had a higher rate of fire and muzzle velocity.

MiG-15UTI(UTI MiG-15 was designated in all standard documentation) - a two-seat training fighter. The cabins are divided, equipped with telephone communication (SPU), the cover of the lantern at the front cabin is hinged to the right, at the rear - sliding back. The control for lifting and releasing the landing gear and flaps was in both cockpits, but for the trainee it is automatically turned off when the instructor controls it. Both cabins are equipped with ejection seats and lanterns that are dropped in an emergency using squibs. Armament: one UBK-E machine gun (150 rounds of ammunition), sometimes there was another NR-23 gun (80 rounds of ammunition), on some copies there was a radar station (in the forward fuselage).

In the unmanned version, it was equipped with homing equipment. Purpose - an aircraft-projectile and an air maneuverable target.

MiG-15U (SU), with a limitedly movable in a vertical plane rifle installation under the forward fuselage. Armament: two NR-30 cannons (55 rounds of ammunition). Subsequently, the HP-30 guns were used on the MiG-19 and MiG-21 F-13 fighters, as well as on Sukhoi Design Bureau aircraft.

("Flying Laboratory") - with an increased height of the keel and the span of the stabilizer, due to some reduction in the plumage chord. On the plane, studies were carried out on ways to deal with rollback when performing a turn.

MiG-15 (SP-1) with VK-1 engine and Thorium-A radar, ARK-5 compass and MRP-48. Night and all-weather interceptor. Armament - one NS-37 gun (45 rounds) and even NS-45. It was supposed to be used in air defense aviation. Released 1949

MiG-15bis. It had the same dimensions and design as the MiG-15. Work on the design of the MiG-15bis was carried out in accordance with the Decree of the Council of Ministers No. 1839-699 of May 14, 1949. The RD-45F engine (2270 kgf) was replaced by the VK-1 (2700 kg). State tests began on September 13, 1949. In addition to the installation of the VK-1 engine, which led to changes in the rear fuselage, the BU-1 hydraulic booster was installed on the aircraft to reduce the effort on the control stick, the aerodynamic compensation of the elevator was increased to 22%, the toes of the elevator and rudder were thickened. The nose of the fuselage has also undergone minor changes caused by the installation of HP-23 guns. On the plane, the area of ​​the brake flaps was also increased to 0.5 m2, and their axis of rotation was set at an angle of 22 ° to the vertical, to reduce the pitching moment when opening. In addition, the strength of the aircraft was brought into line with the "Standards of Aircraft Strength of 1947".

Tests showed that, compared to the MiG-15 with RD-45F, the installation of a new engine and the completed set of improvements led to a significant improvement in almost all characteristics, with the exception of the flight range, which decreased as a result of increased fuel consumption. The aircraft was mass-produced and became the most massive modification of the MiG-15.

MiG-15Rbis- reconnaissance with additional photographic equipment. AFA-IM and AFA-BA / 40 cameras were mounted in the lower part of the fuselage.

MiG-15bis (SP-5). All-weather night fighter with "Izumrud" radar. The tests were completed in March 1952. Radar "Izumrud" was recognized as the most suitable for installation on fighters in terms of reliability and efficiency.

The latest best military aircraft of the Air Force of Russia and the world photos, pictures, videos about the value of a fighter aircraft as a combat weapon capable of providing "air supremacy" was recognized by the military circles of all states by the spring of 1916. This required the creation of a special combat aircraft that surpasses all others in terms of speed, maneuverability, altitude and the use of offensive small arms. In November 1915, Nieuport II Webe biplanes arrived at the front. This is the first aircraft built in France, which was intended for air combat.

The most modern domestic military aircraft in Russia and the world owe their appearance to the popularization and development of aviation in Russia, which was facilitated by the flights of Russian pilots M. Efimov, N. Popov, G. Alekhnovich, A. Shiukov, B. Rossiysky, S. Utochkin. The first domestic machines of designers J. Gakkel, I. Sikorsky, D. Grigorovich, V. Slesarev, I. Steglau began to appear. In 1913, the heavy aircraft "Russian Knight" made its first flight. But one cannot fail to recall the first aircraft creator in the world - Captain 1st Rank Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaisky.

Soviet military aircraft of the USSR of the Great Patriotic War sought to hit the enemy troops, his communications and other objects in the rear with air strikes, which led to the creation of bomber aircraft capable of carrying a large bomb load over considerable distances. The variety of combat missions for bombing enemy forces in the tactical and operational depth of the fronts led to the understanding of the fact that their performance should be commensurate with the tactical and technical capabilities of a particular aircraft. Therefore, the design teams had to resolve the issue of specialization of bomber aircraft, which led to the emergence of several classes of these machines.

Types and classification, the latest models of military aircraft in Russia and the world. It was obvious that it would take time to create a specialized fighter aircraft, so the first step in this direction was to try to equip existing aircraft with small arms offensive weapons. Mobile machine-gun mounts, which began to equip the aircraft, required excessive efforts from the pilots, since the control of the machine in a maneuverable battle and the simultaneous firing of an unstable weapon reduced the effectiveness of firing. The use of a two-seat aircraft as a fighter, where one of the crew members played the role of a gunner, also created certain problems, because an increase in the weight and drag of the machine led to a decrease in its flight qualities.

What are the planes. In our years, aviation has made a big qualitative leap, expressed in a significant increase in flight speed. This was facilitated by progress in the field of aerodynamics, the creation of new more powerful engines, structural materials, and electronic equipment. computerization of calculation methods, etc. Supersonic speeds have become the main modes of fighter flight. However, the race for speed also had its negative sides - the takeoff and landing characteristics and the maneuverability of aircraft deteriorated sharply. During these years, the level of aircraft construction reached such a level that it was possible to start creating aircraft with a variable sweep wing.

In order to further increase the flight speeds of jet fighters exceeding the speed of sound, Russian combat aircraft required an increase in their power-to-weight ratio, an increase in the specific characteristics of turbojet engines, and also an improvement in the aerodynamic shape of the aircraft. For this purpose, engines with an axial compressor were developed, which had smaller frontal dimensions, higher efficiency and better weight characteristics. For a significant increase in thrust, and hence the flight speed, afterburners were introduced into the engine design. The improvement of the aerodynamic forms of the aircraft consisted in the use of wings and empennage with large sweep angles (in the transition to thin delta wings), as well as supersonic air intakes.